


Coming home

by fearthe_unusual



Series: When you know what a man loves, you know what can kill him [3]
Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Light Angst, M/M, Nostalgia, One Shot, Plans For The Future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:41:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29812752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fearthe_unusual/pseuds/fearthe_unusual
Summary: "I. Have. Missed. Us.”Set after the last episode, everything comes to the surface for them both.
Relationships: Oswald Cobblepot/Edward Nygma
Series: When you know what a man loves, you know what can kill him [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2099013
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31
Collections: Ed/Oswald Fics





	Coming home

Finding comfort in wearing his father's old dressing gown, now withered and threadbare, Oswald found himself lost. Lost and contemplating the past, the time spent with his father had seemed like some of the best moments of his life. imagine if he had known of his father when his mother was still alive, how happy he would have been? he thought. It would have been nice to have a complete family, to feel the love of both parents at once, but it seemed pain always followed joy in his life. No shred of happiness Oswald extracted from life ever seemed to last.

The only noise in the room was the flames as they flickered in the fireplace, Oswald found himself entranced by their dance. He sat on the couch, surrounded by the few candles they had been lucky to find. The times he had been hurt, nearly died and the times he did die, betrayed...they were aplenty. There were also moments of pure love for one other, only one other, the one constant in his life-

“Oswald,” a breath, a whisper of his name, barely audible if it were not for the sheer quietness of the room. Oswald wouldn’t have heard it, but this time it made him shiver from surprise.

“Ed! I-I did not see you standing there, old friend.” He forced his lips into a smile, if only for appearances. He did not want Ed to think of him, off dreaming of a different life, a past life, of anything but their present situation. Oswald was so overjoyed at they were here and together, but was so afraid of it’s fragility. That at any moment Ed might leave him, again. History had been known to repeat itself. He hadn’t noticed through his thoughts that Edward had subtlety placed himself close to Oswald on the couch, so close their knees touched. It made his throat go dry and heartrate skyrocket.

“I see you are deep in thought Oswald” Ed exclaimed with a smile, “anything you wish to share?” It was meant as comfort. This was not sarcastic, cunning riddler, Oswald noted, but his friend- his friend Ed, who was genuinely concerned.

“No, no thank you Ed, nothing important, I was just...” Oswald trailed off, once more turning towards the flames, now dying down to a gentle sway. That was how he felt these days, once he burnt bright but recently it had felt like the flame had went out inside himself. A flame he needed to reignite. A firm hand on his shoulder made Oswald immediately freeze, touch was foreign and not something he had become accustomed to that wasn’t associated with doing harm to him.

“I, we, will come back Oswald. Gotham will remember us and if it doesn’t,” a smile now stretched across Edward’s face, “we will force it too.” To hear him talk of such things in the context of a partnership between the two of them, it brought tears to Oswald’s eyes. Little did Ed know that his mind wasn’t consumed by plans or revenge plots at this exact moment but was reflecting of his entire life, a life that had been something he had wished to avoid in the past, too many emotions appeared at the surface, which is something he never dealt with too well. To be free, at last. Both of them were. That was something that made a man, after ten years at Blackgate, stop and think. Considering they were here together, after everything, it seemed..

”Such a blessing.” Oswald muttered, cheeks burning red as he realisied he had just said that out-loud. Ed was studying Oswald, curiously wondering what he was thinking.

“I can never figure you out Oswald.” Their eyes met and it wouldn’t have mattered where they were in this very moment, the tension would be the same. Oswald scoffed, throwing his hand in the air, mocking his actions,

“I am being a nostalgic old fool tonight, please forgive me.“

He couldn’t bring himself to keep eye contact with Ed, with this man he had missed for ten long years and yet why did it feel like they were never apart? Being around Ed felt like coming home.

“Oswald, you know you can tell me anything.” Just the way he spoke, it was in the same manner he used to speak to Oswald so long ago, the admiration was evident in his voice and something else Oswald couldn’t quite make out...the malice and contempt he had grown accustomed to from others never once appeared with Ed, there was only respect and ...awe? no, that could not be it, Oswald thought, that must be his imagination... but things were different, their relationship had shifted, there wasn’t ulterior motives hanging in the air between them only-only comfort being around one another.

“I know Edward, I-” the cup of tea Oswald had been holding slid from his fingers as they shook, such was the impression Ed was having on him.

“Ooopsy daisy.” Ed exclaimed, catching the cup with feline grace as it slid from Oswald’s knee, “wouldn’t want to spill your mother's famous tea.” he flashed a wide grin, hoping to elicit a smile from Oswald.

 _what an idiot you sound like, this is Oswald, just speak plainly with him._ Ed was feeling a warm fuzziness inside him and he wasn’t quite sure why, but he knew Oswald was bringing it about in him. it was foreign to him completely, but Oswald always brought forward something within him. He wanted to say so many things but was afraid once he started it would be like opening a tap he couldn’t close again. He would muck it up, make a mess of everything that had been built between them, had got them here, finally, to a place where it was just them. Placing the cup on the table next to him he noticed Oswald had gone quiet again, seemingly lost in his own thoughts completely tonight.

Ed wondered what was going on inside Oswald’s head, how he could help, he was being very distant.

The day had been long. Maybe now wasn’t the time for this.

“Perhaps we should retire for the night, get some sleep?” Ed placed a hand tentatively on Oswald’s knee, hoping to shake him from his thoughts, more worried now than ever.

Oswald looks up, meets his eyes and Ed can’t stand it, the innocence of those eyes..they are _beautiful_. He had never looked, properly. Oswald’s eyes were wonderful things. _You aren’t so blind after all, Ed._ He feels his cheeks burn at the embarrassing thoughts he was having, what the riddler inside him was saying, about Oswald, he had to admit he felt it, he felt...

“I haven’t felt like this, I mean I have felt like this for a long time, but you know I’m not the best with feelings.”

He wasn't making any sense, he knew that, but Oswald was giving him his full attention, waiting patiently for him to continue, so he gathered up his courage to say more,

“I have” inhaling deeply, "I. Have. Missed. Us.”

There, he had said it, and now he hoped Oswald would get where he was going with this. _Why is the truth so hard to get out!_

Oswald stared deep into his soul, or so it felt. Ed couldn’t peel his eyes away from the piercing stare that was fixated upon him, he couldn’t read it. The decorum they had both been upholding fell away in an instant, disintegrated before their eyes in that moment.

Edward lunged forward and grabbed Oswald by his dressing gown, thee dressing gown he noted, the one he had been wearing that night when roles were reversed and Oswald were sitting where he was at this very moment. He remembers that night vividly, feeling so similar to now, at the tip of whatever this was.

If only he had acted then.

He pulls Oswald into an embrace, breathing him in, not caring how it may come across or be interpreted, not thinking at all, just **feeling**. Oswald visibly relaxed, shoulders drooping and sinking, a small sigh escaping his lips, mumbling,

“Edward,” so soft and delicately spoken it made Ed feel important in that moment, Oswald cared- he still cared, and he needed to tell him that he did too.

Pulling back to meet Oswald’s eyes again, more alive than ever now, Ed’s eyes scan over Oswald’s sharp features, making mental notes to tell him how much he likes everything about his face.

“I am in awe of you, still. Oswald.” Ed stated in such Edward fashion, eloquent and blunt all at once, as though stating an obvious fact. Oswald inhaled sharply, hardly believing his ears, instantly being transported to their younger days. Ed couldn’t stop now, not now he had started. Now was the time to tell all.

“I’ve always admired your sense of self,” he was so close, Oswald could smell his cologne, a mix of cucumber and mint. Green followed Ed in all areas of his life.

“How you command attention,” Edward brought his hand up to gently cusp Oswald’s cheek. Oswald knew he was gaping, but he couldn’t bring himself to care anymore.

“how you’re _at least_ a few steps ahead of everyone else and always” he leaned in, holding Oswald tightly, “know me better than I know myself.”

Closing the gap between them, their lips meet softly. _At last._

It was better than anything they had thought about at the back of their minds, others had speculated about their feelings but they locked them away; what had always been there but never, ever brought to the surface, never talked about.

A brush of the lips turned into a deeper kiss, Oswald’s hand came up to grip Ed’s shirt, pulling him ever closer. Ed’s hands thrusted back into Oswald’s hair, running his fingers through the black mass. Their breaths ragged and desperate, it wasn’t enough, never enough to make up for all the time lost between them. All the wasted years they could have been doing this.

“Ed-” Oswald breathes between kisses, “Ed.” so full of longing it spurs Edward on, as he moans into Oswald's mouth, gripping on his hair ever tighter with one hand and gently stroking Oswald’s cheek with the other.

“Oswald, oh, Oswald,” he didn’t care about showing his vulnerable side, Oswald had seen it, Oswald always saw him long before he saw his own self. 

Ed slides his tongue into Oswald’s mouth, exploring ever deeper. Oswald clings ever tighter, dizzy and longing for stability when his mind is whirring with thoughts but feels blank all at once, only consumed by Ed and what he feels like, what it feels like to kiss him. They kissed like it might be the last and only time they would, the last time they would feel one another like this, wishing all the while that it wouldn’t be the only time.

_It all makes sense now, we never truly felt happy inflicting suffering on Oswald. You couldn’t see it through because we-_

Oswald’s pulls back, interrupting Ed's build-up to a confession, his eyes ablaze with passion, panting to regain his breath. Placing a gentle touch on Ed’s chest he smiles,

“I-I think I need a minute.” Oswald mutters, lowering his head to compose himself, head swimming and trying to comprehend. what just happened. Too much to handle almost; this was everything Oswald had ever wanted, and it was all happening at the most unexpected of times. He wasn’t ready, he never would be ready for something like this. Ed frowns a little at first, panicking that Oswald had changed his mind, that he no longer felt anything for him. But Oswald keeps his hands on Ed’s chest, reassuringly close and comforting. Ed knew Oswald wasn’t experienced with intimacy in any form with anyone, had he gone too far?

“I’m sorry, I was pushing you, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable-” he started but Oswald shook his head, silencing him, “no! Ed, it was-it was...” he looks up into Ed’s eyes. “It was perfect.”

Their kiss had meant so much to both of them, it meant realising themselves and who they were, their feelings for one another, it meant they were _honouring_ their feelings.

“I want-no, **need** you to know Oswald,” Ed grabs Oswald’s hand in his, intertwining their fingers,

“I love you Oswald. I always have.”

Oswald doesn’t smile, out of utter shock, he lets it sink in. He doesn’t smile because inside he has never felt happier. He wishes his mother and father were here to see him, he knows they would be happy for him. He knows that whatever their lives have in store for them going forward, that Ed will be by his side.

The fate that always awaited them.

“I love you too Edward, I never stopped.” Oswald smiles now more heartfelt than ever as Ed dips down to meet him for another kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> I have to indulge with 'after the fact' fics such as this, it's my favourite time to write this beautiful pair because something MUST have happened when the series ended right?!! 
> 
> Please leave love/comment, it makes my day! Thanks for reading.


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